The Trocadero Theatre (opened as the Arch Street Opera House) is a historic theater located in

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It offered musical comedies, vaudeville, opera, and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

. The Trocadero Theatre was refurbished for use as an art house cinema and fine arts theatre in 1970s, and by the 1990s had become an iconic venue for rock and punk concerts.

History

The theater, designed by architect

Edwin Forrest Durang Edwin Forrest Durang (April 17, 1829June 7, 1911) was an American architect. He kept offices in Philadelphia and specialized in ecclesiastical and theatrical design. Life and career Durang was born in New York City, into a distinguished theatric ...

, then modified several times, was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 1973, and to the National Register of Historic Places five years later. The building was known at various time as the Arch Street Opera House (1870–1879); Park Theatre (1879); New Arch Street Opera House (1884); Continental Theatre (1889); Gaiety Theatre (1890); Casino/Palace Theatre (1892), Troc Theatre (1940); Slocum's and Sweatman's Theatre; Sweatman's Arch Street Opera House; Simmon's & Slocum's Theatre; and Simmon's Theatre. It was already referred to as the Trocadero Theater in 1908. The Trocadero was a burlesque theater from the early 1900s until the 1970s. Burlesque performer Mara Gaye performed here in the 1950s. The Pennsylvania Opera Theater, in 1982, was presenting three productions a year at the Trocadero. In 1986, the Trocadero was again remodeled for its current use as a concert hall and dance club. The Trocadero retains a promoting team and books bands directly. It has a capacity of 1,200 patrons (standing room) or 600 patrons (fully seated). The theater hosts a wide range of events including movie screenings, comedy shows, burlesque and concerts from alternative, indie rock, heavy metal, punk rock, jam,

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bands, and hip hop and electronica artists. Bob Dylan performed at the Troc on December 11, 1997. After several days of rumors and a last-minute attempt by local promoters to save it, Philadelphia's Trocadero Theatre, part of the city's entertainment skyline since 1870, closed in May 2019. In October 2022 it was announced that Northwest Arch LLC, the group shown to legally own the Trocadero, had applied for and subsequently received a $2.5M state-issued grant through Pennsylvania's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Plans were announced soon thereafter that the theater would be undergoing a "complete renovation of the exterior and interior of the Trocadero building. The end product will be a fully updated first-class concert venue, entertainment space and full-service restaurant." No immediate timeframe was given for commencement or completion of the renovations.

Recordings and broadcasts

A concert at the Trocadero was released by Combat Records as ''Ultimate Revenge 2'' in 1989, featuring performances by bands

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, Death, Forbidden, Dark Angel, and Faith or Fear. A number of DVD and television specials have been filmed at the Trocadero, including the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

program ''2 Dollar Bill'' for My Chemical Romance in September 2006, comedian and actor

Christian Finnegan Fletcher Christian Finnegan (born April 1, 1973), better known as Christian Finnegan, is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City. Early life Finnegan was born in Albany, New York. He grew up in Acton, Massachusett ...

's DVD/ Comedy Central special ''Au Contraire'' in October 2008, comedian and actor Michael Ian Black's DVD/Comedy Central special ''Very Famous'' in March 2011, and comedian Dan Soder's Comedy Central special in December 2015. The Dead Milkmen recorded their live album, '' Chaos Rules: Live at the Trocadero'', at the Troc. In 1991, Tesla had a hit single with the live cover version of the Five Man Electrical Band song "

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", which was recorded at the Troc. The Trocadero was the location for

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

's live DVD '' Killadelphia'' and for

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's "Altered From Catechization" music video. On June 2, 2012,

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

Chikara held the Chikarasaurus Rex: How to Hatch a Dinosaur internet

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

at the Trocadero. Chikara held their next two pay-per-views,

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on December 2, 2012, and Aniversario: Never Compromise on June 2, 2013, at the venue.

External links

Trocadero Theater, Encyclopedia of Greater PhiladelphiaInformation at CinemaTreasures.comHistoric photographs
at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
Listing and photographs
at the Historic American Buildings Survey

References

{{Authority control Music venues in Philadelphia Nightclubs in Pennsylvania Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Chinatown, Philadelphia 1870 establishments in Pennsylvania Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places

History

Recordings and broadcasts

See also

External links

References